History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 36

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286

USA > New York > Westchester County > History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II > Part 36

Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).

Two Mules bearing boys with banners, one representing "The Best Family Newspaper in the Town, " and the other " The Liveliest

Newspaper in the County." Wagon of l'. Reardon, exhibit of wall paper. Truck of John Small, with blackmiths at work.

Twelfth Battalion.

Carriage containing Street Commissioner Joseph Peene and II. L. Garrison.

Young Men's Catholic Association Band of St. Joseph's Church. Six wagons representing tho work of the Street Department.

Cart drawn by Oxen representing Francis Derviens, sonrer and dyer. Night curringes containing invited guests.

The procession created the liveliest interest all along the route, and was received with cheers and the waving of handkerchiefs. It was over one hour in

passing a given point, and must have been at least two miles in length.

The grand stand was designed by Benjamin Silli- man, Jr., architect, and erceted by Bowler & Walsh, under the direction of Norton P. Otis. It was capa- ble of seating six hundred persons.

The decorations were entrusted to C. H. Koster of New York, and he did his work well. There was a profusion of national colors, studded with shields, flags and bammers of all nations, chief among them being the coat-of-arms of the United States, sur- rounded with American flags. Large colors attached to flagstaffs floated above. Suspended at a height of abont fifty feet from the ground was a large painting representing all the flags that were used by the colo- nies of America, surrounding a picture of " The Ban- ner in the Sky." In this picture two Continental soldiers, at daybreak, are seen building a camp-fire. The sun, not yet risen, casts a lurid glare on the morning clouds, and with the blue sky forms an American flag.

The exterior of the grand old Manor Hall was very appropriately and handsomely decorated. From the flagstaff hung a large national banner, with twenty- five smaller flags around the balustrade. Above the roof, in large block letters of gilt, appeared :

1682 MANOR HALL. 1882

On the south corner of the roof was a life-size Indian, with a bow and arrow ; in the centre, the fig- ure of a Hollander ; and on the north corner, the fig- ure of a Continental soldier. Coats-of-arms of the thirteen original States were placed around the build- ing between the second-story windows. Verily, in the language of the ode, sung as below, was

" Manor Hall aglow With more than light of other day's, Two hundred years ago.

An immense throng was present at the meeting. The entire ground in front of the Hall was seated with chairs, with boards before them for the protection of the feet from the damp ground. All the arrangements displayed wise forethought for comfort and conve- nience. At three o'clock the meeting was organized as follows :

President :

Iton, Sanmel Swift, Mayor

l'ice-Presidenta .

Ion. Sammel JJ. Tilden. Robert P. Getty, Esg. Wm. A. Butler, Em. Ang. Van Cortlandt, Esq.

llon. Wablo Hutchins. Everett Clapp, Em.

Hon. Edwin R. Keyes. Samuel D. Babcock, Esq.

James C. Bell, Erq. John T. Waring, Esq.

Indge Abraham II. Tuppen.

Julge Matt. Il. Ellis. llon. Norton P'. Otis. Hon William A. Gilson.

Ethan Flagg, Esq. Rudolf Fickmeyer, E-q.

llon. G. Hilton Scribner. Ienne II. Knox, Esq.

llon, Inmes C. Conrter llon Joseph Masten.

Judge Edward P. Baird.

llon. Thos. F. Morris.

157

YONKERS.

Secretaries :

C. E. Gorton. J. S. Fitch. Edgar Logan, Jr.

F. X. Donoghue.

I[. W. Flagg. E. A. Oliver.

John M. Digney. James Prendergast.

C. H. Harriott.

J. 11. Keeler.

G. B. Ritter.

The raised platform, prepared for six hundred persons, was reserved for the officers of the meeting, the city authorities, the guests and the reporters for the press.

The representatives of families whose successive generations have resided here during a century or more were assigned a place of special honor, and marched to the seats reserved for them, under the leadership of Mr. Augustus Van Cortlandt.

THE MAYOR'S ANDRESS.

" Ladies and Gentlemen :- As president of this mass-meeting, it is solely my duty to maintain order and have the arranged programme carried ont. It is a pleasure to me that what is so obviously the proper thing to do is so sure to accord with your inclination.

" Yon are all anxious to hear how, from the erection of our Manor HIall, two hundred years ago, this territory has been developed ; how, then the property of one family, the land has gradually come into the possession of many ; how the Manor became the settlement, the settle- ment the village, the village the town and the town the city, the extent ef whose professions, industries, mannfactures and trades has been rep- resented in the grand procession you have to-day witnessed.

"To a large proportion of onr citizens, and probably to every one of our guests who have gratified us by accepting the invitation to be pres- ent on this occasion, this exhibit has been a surprising revelation. I doubt if any one here present had a correct estimate of the resources of Yonkers, and in a few moments it will be my pleasant duty to introduce to you Dr. David Cole, who, on account of his eminent fitness, has been selected to relate to you our history in a manner worthy of the day, and by the delivery of an oration certain in future to occupy a prominent part in all histories of this region."

The Yonkers Band, John Bright, leader, played an overture, which gave great satisfaction.

OPENING PRAYER BY REV. CHARLES R. CORI.EY.

"O God, Almighty and Eternal, our Refuge and our Strength, Fountain of all goodness, Protector of all those who hope in Thee, with- out whose aid nothing is durable, nothing holy, we trust in Thee. Thon art kind and loving. With filial affection we call Thee Abba, Father. Look down upon us to-day and sanctify our efforts. We thank Thee and we bless Thy name. Thou hast bestowed on the land we so dearly love so many gifts that she stands among the nations as a land of promise and a home for the oppressed. Thon hast given to us material prosperity, and hast led divers people unto us as a land overflowing with milk and honey. Thon hast built up the people until the nations have looked to ns, and, when in distress, have stretched out to ns their hands for succor. Grant that we may draw nearer to Thee. Give to the nation abiding peace and happiness. Bless our people, bless our rulers. Grant thiem every virtne. Protect our chief magistrate and those committed to his charge. Bless our city and those who govern and direct it. Grant that as wo increase in worldly goods we may never forget that Thon livest and reignest ; that the words of Thy royal prophet may sink deeply into our hearts, that unless the Lord build the house they labor in vain that build it, that unless the Lord keep the city, he watcheth in vain that keepeth it. This while we celebrate the two hundredth year of our foundation as a dwelling, we celebrate Thy name and ask of Thee to bless and preserve us. We beg of Thee to give all aid to those of this our city whom we select to govern and protect ns. Inspire them with a just appreciation of their office, that they may do all things agreeable to Thee. This we beg of Thee, Almighty Father, through Thy Son Christ Jeans, who with Thee and the Holy Ghost liveth and reigneth, one God, world without end. Amen. In the name of the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen.

The following Bi-Centennial Ode, written by Mr. Effingham T. Hyatt, was then sung by three hundred

school children under the direction of Prof. A. An- drews, the band playing the accompaniment :

I. " Hnil, festal day ! Hail, fruitful land ! llail, bright, historic shore ! Hail, Hudson fair !- serene and grand, Roll on forever more ! ITail, hills and vales and winding ways ! llail, Manor Hall, aglow

With more than light of other days, Two hundred years ago !

11. " Old Manor House ! Thy form recalls A name rever'd and blest -- Beneath thy roof, within thy walls Great Washington was gnest ! When Savages this land controlled, And Progress stood dismay'd, When Freedom sigh'd and Kings were bold, Thy solid walls were laid !

III.

" Ye ancient oaks, ye would not sigh For forests level'd low,

If ye could see, with human eye, The thrifty scenes we know,

The busy mills and holy spires, The homes of peace and fame, A people mov'd by good desires, And warm'd by virtue's flame !

1V.

"And if we all conld hnt foretell The blessings yet to come, How would a grateful anthem swell From ev'ry Yonkers home ! Sulficient, now, to praise the Lord Of all the land and sea- Who gave ns, with this healthful sward, Light, hope and liberty !"

The ode was received with general applause.

Rev. David Cole, D.D., then delivered his masterly oration, which will be found in our paper. Although lengthy,1 the interest was such that Dr. Cole held the attention of his audience to the elose when his earefully-prepared address was heartily applauded and warmly eommended. The ode "America" was then sung by the audienee standing, and Rev. James Haughton pronouneed the benediction. The meeting was regarded as a complete suecess.

THE FIREWORKS .- The evening display of fire- works, which took place on a field on the east side of North Broadway, north of Lake Avenue, was very largely attended. The works were fine, but the misty atmosphere prevented their being displayed to the best advantage. The exhibition continued about an hour.

) The "oration " referred to was prepared for two ends, -first, to serve the need of the hi centennial day as an oration, and secondly, to serve the city of Yonkers as a full historical paper, to be kept on tile for refer- ence. The more rhetorical parts of it only were delivered at the mass meet- ing, and the time occupied in the delivery was exactly one hour and fif- teen minutes. We add in this note that the entire paper has served as the basis for the history of Yonkers we are giving in this volume, The andience at the mass-meeting was probably not less than seven thousand in nmuber. It covered compactly all the ground in front of Manor Hall, and all the streets around, lilling even the windows of all buildings within sight of those on the platform.

158

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

1. Salnte of Aerial Maroons-Fourteen inches in circumference, lired from iron mortars, and exploding at a great height with tremendous reports.

2. Prismatic Inmination-By beautifully varied fires, changing color continually, placed in selected positions and producing a most charming effect.

3. Ascent of Mammoth Balloons-Carrying a very powerful magne- simm light and discharging at a great altitude a variety of novel and pleasing fireworks, concluding with a magnificent shower of gold and silver rain, brilliantly illuminated with gems of every hne, which changed color continually during their gradnal descent.

4. Grand Display of Large Rockets-Peacock phimmes, silver streamers, twinkling stars, golden clouds, triple parachutes, tri-colored asteroids, floating bouquets, etc., also many recent novelties of great beauty.

5. Device-The Pyrotechnical Kaleidoscope-Revolving with great rapidity, emitting cascades of liquid hire and discharging large rockets. Gold fountains, hiery whirlwinds, codored Roman candles, fanfarron- audes, Italian streamers and gems and every conceivable description ol fireworks. Fiery torpedoes flying through the air with great rapidity and bursting with very loud reports.

6. Flight of Illuminated Tourbillons -Forming immense cascades uf fire in ascent and descent. Jewel clouds shredded with gems of every une covering an immense space in the nir.

7. Device-The Eidelweiss.

8. Grand Display of Shells-Fifteen inches in diameter, Laburnum blossoms, birds of Paradise, couleur de rose, rubies and sapphires, emer- als and diamonds, gold and pink, manve and pink, chocolate aud dark blne, ultramarine and silver, purjde and amber, silver rain, magenta, green and gold, Cuirquoise, amelhysts, tloral wreaths, etc.

9. Ascent of Cometic Stars-Being fac-similes of meleors with brilliant flery tails.

10. Device-Aladdin's Jeweled Tree.

11. Salvos of Aerial Sancissous-Filling the air with intensely bril- liant lires of the most fantastic forms.

12. The Aerial Acre of Variegated Gems-Produced by the simul- tancons discharge of a number of our magnificent shells.

13. Device-The Vol au Vent-Bouquets of rockels, terminating in clouds uf gold, great explosions of jewel and cracker mines.

14. The Langhable Firework "Jumbo."

15. Ascent of Another Balloon-Carrying powerful magnesium lights and fireworks as before.

16. Second Display of Large Rockets of every color and tint possible to be produced.

17. Display of Pain's Aerial Wonders-The Pyrotechulcal Harle- quinade.

18. Large Electric Shell-Lighting up the scenery for miles around with a glare of dazzling light.

19. Device-The Falls of Niagara.

20. Second Display of Shells-Eighteen inches in circumference. Gollen Rain. Magnesium Lights, jewel shower, aerial bouquet, varie- gated gems, umber and purple, essence of moonlight, prismatic cascade, opal rain, torrent of illuminated gems, heliotropes, elc

21. The Southern Cross.

22. Meteoric Rockets-With gold and silver rain, batteries of colored Roman candies discharging to grent height in all directions, myrinds of fiery globules of every hne.

23. Verial Contortionista-A most eccentric novelty.

21. Grand Finale-\ Fire Picture, thirty by forty teet, of The Old Manor House, with appropriate mottoes. Magnificent bonquel of one thousand rockets. Fen de joi.

This display closed the eclebration. It left a kindly memory with all who participated in it, and gave a favorable impulse, it is believed, to patriotic feeling and to Yonkers business life. Who will they be, and what will they see, who may be present at the tri-centennial in 1982?

SECTION XXV. The People of Yonkers.'

We have found it impossible to write the history of Yonkers withont feeling that, humanly speaking,

1 To prevent repetition, the editor has taken the liberty of transferring

la the general chajder mjon the Iterature and literary men of West-

people have made it. We can, indeed, think ofa his- tory of a locality apart from its people. It would be a history of the actions of matter upon matter and their results; a history of changes prodneed by at- traction and gravitation, heat and cold, moisture and drought; a history of convulsions attended by de- pressings and npheavings, such as we know have oc- curred on the very spot on which we live. If the surface of Yonkers could tell the processes through which it has come in reaching its prosent conforma- tion, certainly much interest would attach to its story. But we have been impressed, while writing onr past chapters, with the absolute dependence of what we have been called to record upon the men and women, and upon the words and acts of the men and women, who have lived here. Humanly speaking, these have made Yonkers. What it had not, these have brought to it-what it was not, these have made it to become and to be. So the history of Yonkers has been a history of its people, of their words and acts, . and of the results of what they have said and done. We had no sooner started on our work than we found that we had to be all the time bringing in people, and now that we are finishing it, we find, on looking back, that almost every page has been a page of names. This had to be. But the thought of it sug- gests the painful consciousness that while bringing in so many names we have had to leave out a large number that are entitled to a high and honorable place in the annals of the territory. We shall try our ntmost in the space that yet remains to us to do justice to our city's past and present people.

Certain names have been so associated with the government and with the institutions of the place that they could be traced continuously through min- utes and records still preserved. Every name of a president, trustee or police justice of the village, every name of a mayor, alderman, city judge or mem- ber of a city department, every name of a pastor or officer of a church, of an editor of a paper, of a foun- der or leader of an industry, of an officer or employe of a bank, of a projector or executor of a reform or a charity, is preserved in existing documents. But Yonkers, like every other place, has had many im- portant men and women, whose activity has wrought itself into the passing life of their day in such a man- ner as to make itself powerfully felt and to leave its traces permanently behind, but yet not in connection with organized movements, carrying with them rec- ords that preserve names. Among these, first of all, have been our resident clergymen never holding Yonkers pastorates, and all our physicians and law- vers who have not held public offices or been identi- tied with public responsibilities. And among them, secondly, have been what we call the masses. What an immense part the masses have played in bringing

. chester County, lo be found in the first volume of This work, n brief sketch ol The " Anlhors and Writers of Yonkers, " prepared by Rev. Dr. Cole.

FMG

RESIDENCE OF MISS PRISCILLA SMITH,

NORTH YONKERS.

159

YONKERS.

into being the Yonkers of which we have been writ- ing! How plainly its evolution has been, in large part, the work of men and women who are not only not now remembered, but who were searcely noticed while they were living, and doing their steady, telling work upon the place ! We eall up in our thought, not by name, but as masses, the men who have dug out and broken up the rocks that not more than forty years ago overlay and underlay the surface now presenting such a picture of beauty,-the men whose toil shaped the materials now wrought into our splendid archi- teeture, the men who drove the planes and the saws, or who laid the stones or the bricks, or who made the mortar and carried the hods at the erection of our fine buildings, the men who graded the streets, who put down the walks, who developed the gardens, who laid out the terraees and the lawns and produced the cultivated landscapes. Standing in St. John's Ceme- tery sometimes and watching the covering of re- mains, we think even of the Yonkers men, like the venerable Lewis Ritter and William Griffin, who have spent long lives in the work of opening and fil- ling graves. Every one, low or high, who has lived in Yonkers has had some share, less or more promi- nent, in furnishing the life and shaping the events out of which our history has been drawn. We have desired and tried to eall up all the people to the full- est extent to which we could recall or collect names, and follow them. And when we have come to where names ceased, we have thought of the masses who have filled their lives with toil, and died without leaving their names behind. Blessed be God for the masses! Heads plan, but what would planning be without hands to carry out? Let our masses know that they are not unnoticed either by God or thoughtful men. A silent but a mighty force they are! Let them seek to be a force, not for physical toil only, but for health- ful moral influence. What they have done for the surface of the city and for its architecture they can do, if they will, for the moral character of the plaec. They can banish liquor saloons, they can put down profanity, they ean hold up the Sabbath, they can maintain order, they can sustain law, and if they do all this, they will not go unremembered by thinking men whose work it may at any time become to col- lect the annals of the city in which they live, and in which they toil to build it up and give it a name among the cities of the land.

We have mentioned all the past and present pas- tors of Yonkers churches. Among them it has been shown that Babcock, Cooper, Crosby, Storrs (all of St. John's,'on Broadway), Ives (of St. John's, at Tucka- hoe), Lynch and Slevin (of St. Mary's) are dead. So far no other pastor of a Yonkers church ever died during his Yonkers pastorate. But our city has been honored by the residence within it of a number of clergymen, never pastors here, some of whom have been exceedingly active and useful in special depart- ments of work. People who have lived in Yonkers

for the last thirty years ean never forget one of the most distinguished of this class of workers, the Rev. Robert Baird, D.D., who had devoted himself in young manhood to a special mission-" the extension of Protestantism and the evangelization of the world in connection with the religious and benevolent societies." An accomplished linguist, of extensive and varied literary acquisition, a man of sound judgment, magnetic in manners, Christ-loving and race-loving, simple-hearted and large-hearted, and having selected, as the medium through which to carry out his chosen work, those great evangelical corporations, the Bible Society, the Tract Society and the Sunday-School Union, he proceeded to Europe in 1835, and making Paris and Geneva his centres of operation for eight years, visited nearly every eapi- tal, found access to every court he approached, became acquainted with almost every monarch, and, gaining an influence without limit, utilized it to spread the gospel, to diffuse knowledge, to plead the interests and secure the relief of the persecuted, to promote the cause of temperance, and in every way to displace the false, to plant the true and to lift up man. Returning to America in 1843, after eight years of absence, during which time he had succeeded in forming the Foreign Evangelical Society, subse- quently merged into the Ameriean and Foreign Chris- tian Union, of which he was also the founder, he passed his remaining twenty years on earth, to his death on the 15th of March, 1863, alternately in Europe and America, using in both countries the vast influence he had acquired in furthering the mission of his life. Providing himself with necessary maps and other means of illustration, he passed, during his home sojourns, from town to town and city to city, addressing large audiences, and, in a familiar, collo- quial style, interesting young and old with simple lectures on European life, introducing his hearers now into the most blood-enrdling scenes of persecu- tion and suffering, then into the most brilliant scenes of court and palace life, and never forgetting, as he talked, to weave into his lectures the most impressive representations of the educational and the religious needs of the masses among whom he had moved.

Dr. Baird was not an orator. His manner on the platform was wholly umstudied. Yet by the dignity of his presence, the manifest sincerity of his words and the clearly-defined aim of his life, he charmed adults and children alike, and, perhaps more than any other lecturer of his period, helped to give to the American people a just conception of the European world, and to the people of Europe a true idea of the American heart. It was the privilege and the honor of Yonkers to furnish a home and at last a resting-place for the remains of this distinguished minister of Christ.

And many of our people will also remember Rev. Robert MeCartee, D.D., born in New York City Sep- tember 30, 1791, who spent the last three years of his life in Yonkers in retirement from feeble health.

160

HISTORY OF WESTCHESTER COUNTY.

Dr. MeCartee had been forty-six years in the pas- torate (1816 to 1862), mostly in the cities of Philadel- phia and New York. His personal qualities were overflowing geniality, extraordinary devotion and irrepressible fervor. He was especially eminent in the pulpit. Intense absorption in the lofty themes of the law and the gospel gave to his preaching an eloquence which was indescribable. His tenderness carried his hearers away with emotion, Probably no minister ever exerted a greater power over an audience than he. Some conception of his success as a preacher and pastor may be gained from the fact that during his pastorate of the Canal Street Church, in New York, its membership grew from thirty to eight hun- dred. He died in Yonkers on the 12th of March, 1865. Nor have our Yonkers residents of twenty-five years or more forgotten another aged minister-the Rev. Robert Kirkwood, who spent his last days as a resi- dent here. Mr. Kirkwood was born in Paisley, Seot- land, May 25, 1793 ; was educated in the College of Glasgow, and, after studying theology under the eele- brated Dr. John Diek, in the same city, was licensed in 1828, and came at onee thereafter to the city of New York. He first served the Missionary So- ciety of the Reformed (Dutch) Church ; then filled different pastorates in New York State till 1839 ; then spent seven years in Illinois as a domestie missionary, and subsequently served as an agent for the Bible and Tract societies. At the close of this service he trans- ferred his ecclesiastical relations to the Presbyterian Church. In 1851, retiring from publie work, he came to reside in Yonkers. His remaining years he gave to correspondence and book-making. He was a fre- quent correspondent of leading religious papers, published volumes entitled " Lectures on the Millen- imm," " Universalism Explained," "A Plea for the Bible," " Illustrations of the Offices of Christ," and also a selection of Sermons. As a preacher Mr. Kirk- wood was solid and instructive, and as a companion and. conversationist, he was pleasant and profitable During his Yonkers life he added to his studies con- siderable outside work, which was attended with use- ful results. He died here on the 26th of August, 1866. Besides the three clergymen named, at least two others, never pastors in the place, have lived and died here, viz., Rev. Renben Hubbard, of the Protes- tant Episcopal Church, and Rev. Timothy R. Hib- bard, of the Methodist Episcopal Church. Both died before 1863. We know nothing of their history except the fact of their living and dying in Yonkers. All the five we have named have left descendants who are still residents of the city. Two of the sons of Dr. Baird are clergymen, and both of them are scholars and writers of eminence; a third was long city judge of Yonkers. Several of the children of Rev. Dr. MeCartec, and also of the children of Rev. Mr. Kirk- wood, have been earnest Christian workers, making their lives tell for good, some of them in other phices and some of them at home.

Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.

History of Westchester county : New York, including Morrisania, Kings Bridge, and West Farms, which have been annexed to New York City, Vol. II, Part 36

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898, Publication date: 1886 Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co. Number of Pages: 1286

Author: Scharf, J. Thomas (John Thomas), 1843-1898,
Publication date: 1886
Publisher: Philadelphia : L.E. Preston & Co.
Number of Pages: 1286